Method and apparatus for severing glass sheets



Oct. 29, 1940. w OWEN 2,219,698

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SEVERING GLASS SHEE'I'S' Filed Npv. 4, 19375,Sheets-Sheet 1 0/11.. 1.1m! Owe/v Oct. 29, 1940. w, OWEN 2,219,698

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SEVERING GLASS SHEETS Filed Nov. 4, 193'! 5Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENIUR. WILL/HM 014/5 Oct. 29, 194-0. w w 2,219,698

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SEVERING QLAS SHEETS Filed Nov. 4. i937 5 shets-sheet 3 INVENTOR. WILL/HM OwE/v 6 AaivRNsys.

Oct. 29, 1940. w. OWEN METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SEVERING GLASS SHEETSFiled Nov. 4, 195'! 5 SheetS-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. 4/: l IFM OWEN Oct. 29,1940. w OWEN 2,219,698

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SEVERING GLASS SHEETS Filed Nov. 4, 1937 5Sheets-Sheet 5 I a.-3 4o 35 l I I a 54 52 I I Q I :l.., 25; I n

. INVENTOR. WILL/HM OwE/v A :RNEYS.

Patented Oct. 29, 1940 PATENT OFFICE METHOD AND APPARATUS roa savsamccuss. snsn'rs William Owen, Pittsburgh, Pa.,

burgh Plate Glass Company,

assignor to Pitts Allegheny County,

Pa., a corporation oi Pennsylvania Application November 4, 1937, SerialNo. 172,742

'1 Claims.

The invention relates to a method and apparatus for severing glasssheets, and is'particularly applicable to such operations wherein thecuts follow curved arcs and the glass is of the heavier grades. shapesfrom plate glass for use in automobiles, in which the usual thicknessfor case hardened or ordinary annealed glass is about one quarter of aninch. With glass of this typ ,or thicker, difllculty is experienced inrunning the cut a'fterthe scoring operation, and the line of the breakoften diagonals at some part of its length instead of lying atrightangles to the faces of the plate. This condition requires more grindingof the edge of the plate than would otherwise be required.

The present invention is designed to overcome the difficulties setoperation for reducing the dimculty of running a cut and for insuringthat the plane of the edge is at right angles to the faces of the plate.Briefly stated, this is accomplished by turning the plate upside down,after the scoring operation, supporting it on a yielding surface withthe scored face down, and running the cut by following along such cut onthe upper face of the platewith a roll or equivalent means, on whichpressure is applied suiiicient to cause the plate to crack along theline of scoring. One embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 isa front elevation. Fig. 2 is 9. diagrammatic plan view. Fig.3 is a side elevation. Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are enlarged detail views of thearm, which carries the element for applying pressure to crack the glass,Fig. 4 being a plan view, Fig. 5 a side elevation partially in section,and Fig. 6 an end-elevation partially in section. And Fig. '7 is asection through a piece of glass which has been separated on a very muchenlarged scale.

Referring to the drawings, the framework of the apparatus comprises thevertical members 8, 8, and 9, 9 (Figs. 1 and 3) and-the transversemembers H], II, l2

gether by bolting or welding. The members ll carry the four guides l4,on which the tablesli and I6 are slidably mounted, such tables acting assupports for the glass sheets in the scoring and cracking ofioperations, as later described.

The members 9, 9'(Fig. 3) extend above the tables and are provided withbrackets H, to which the two cylinders i8 and I9 are attached. Thesecylinders are each provided with a piston having the plungers 20 and 2i,to which the presser plates 22 and 23 are attached at the ex- A largeuse of the invention is in cutting v forth by providing a means andandi3 suitably secured totreme lower ends of the plungers. Secured to theseplates are the two templets 24 and 25 whose contour determines themovement of the scoring and cracking oil elements, as later described.The templets have secured to their lower faces 5 sheets of resilientmaterial 26 and 21 of ielt or the like for making clamping engagementswith the glass sheets 28 and 29 supported on the tables. The table I5 isalso provided with a felt sheet 30 for cushioning the glass, while thetable I6 is provided with a similar sheet of felt 3|, which is somewhatthicker. The sheet3i extends substantially beyond the edges of thetemplet so that the glass is resiliently supported upon both sides ofthe line of score. Swivelled on the lower ends of the plungers and 2|are the hubs 32 and 33 provided with the arms 34 and 35. The arm 34carries a scoring tool 36, such as a wheel or diamond, while the arm 35carries a pr'esser roll 31, these elements 20 being so mounted on thearms that when the arms are rotated on the plungers, the scoring andcracking off elements are guided by the templets 24 and and followsimilar paths. The character of the templets will be seen by referenceto 25 Fig. 2, as well as their relation to the glass plates 28 and 29.In scoring the glass sheet on the table such plate is positioned by fourstops 38, which are secured to the'top of the table by means of screws'50 that their position may be altered to 30 meet requirements.Similarly, the glass plate 29 is positioned on the table i6 by means ofthe four stops 39. In operation, after the plate 28 has been scored toconform to the shape of the templet by swinging the arm carrying thecutter I around its axis,-the glass plate is released by reversing theoperation of the plunger 20 and is removed from the table I5 and placedon the table IS in reverse position so that the scored suriacels down.The plate ishere positioned by 40 the stops 39 which, as shown in Figure2, are disposed in opposite-hand or mirror relationship with respect tothe stops 38 so that the glass will always becorrectly centered evenwhen the sheet is inverted and the plunger 2| is operated to clamp theglass plate in position. It is now ready for the cracking ofi operation,which is accomplished by swinging the arm 2i around its axis with thepresser roll 31 forced downward by the spring 69 below the handle 40, asimilar handle 4i being provided on the scoring arm 34. The pressureapplied by the roll 31 causes the glass to crack in opposition to suchroll along the line 42, as indicated in Fig. 7, and as illustrated inthis figure, the edge surface of the sheet is at right figure serves toillustrate the ends of these pivots carry angles to the faces of thesheet, which condition exists throughout the lengthof the edge. Thispurpose of themvention, as heretofore set forth, which is to produceedge surfaces which do not diagonal with respect to the faces of theglass sheets, but "are at right angles thereto. This reduces the amountof grinding subsequently required in order to true up the edge and isincreasingly important as the thickness of the sheets increase.

The up and down movement of the plungers 20 and 2| is regulated by meansof the valves 43 and 4.4 which control the flow of operating air throughthe connections 45, 46 and 41. In order to facilitate the removal of theglass plates from the tables and their application thereto, the tablesare mounted for sliding movement on their guides l4 so that they may bemoved laterally from beneath the plungers onto the extensions 48 (Fig.3) in applying the plates to the tables or in removing them therefrom,and the outward movement of the tables on the extensions is limited bythe stop chains 49.

The construction of the arms 34 and 35 which carry the scoring andpresser elements and permit such elements to follow the contour of thetemplets 24 and 25-is shown in Figs. 4 to 6. The construction of the twoarms is the same throughout so that a description of one of the armswill be suflicient. The arm 35 shown in Figs. 4 to6 carries the presserroll 31 for running the cut, and it will be understood that in the arm34 used above the table l5, this element 31 is replaced-by the scoringwheel 36 or by a diamond. The arm 35 has pivoted thereto adjacent thehub 33 a pair of bars 50, 50, such bars being mounted upon the pivots 5|(Fig. 4) on the arm 35 and lying beneath such arm at the sides thereof,as indicated in Fig. 6. The rear ends of the bars 50 are connected by aspring 52 which tends to separate the front ends of the bars. The barsare held against separation at their front ends by means of a chain 53provided at its ends with the. links 54, which are held under tension bythe springs 55 extending to the rear and attached to blocks 56 carriedby the rear ends of the bars 50. The links 54' are connected to the endsof the chain 53 by means of the vertical pivots 51 the rolls 58, whichride in the ends of the arms 50, as indicated in Fig. 6. The middleportion of the chain 53 is provided with brackets 59, in which thepresser roll 31 is mounted. Pressure is applied above the roller 31 bymeans of a spring 60 hearing against the plate 6|, which in turn carriestheballs 62 mounted in a recess in the end of the arm. An antifrictionthrust bearing is thus provided in opposition to the roll 31.

The chain is of the roller type and the side bars of the chain onopposite sides of the roller members 63 he on opposite sides of the edgeof the templet, as indicated in Figs. 5 and 6, so that the end of thearms 50 have only limited vertical play, being stopped in their up anddown movement by the engagement of the side plates of the chain with theupper and lower edges of the templet. The arrangement as describedprovides a flexible support for the presser roll 31 so that as the arm35 is swung around its axis, the roll can follow around the curves ofthe templet to. correspond with the line of scoring on the glass sheet.The central portion of the chain is pulled inward against the edge ofthe templet 25 by means of a spring 55a (Fig. 4), the inner end of I inthe same vertical (Fig. 4) and the upper the spring being attached tothe hub 33. In the case of the cutter arm 34, which carries the scoringtool, the only diflerence in construction from that above described,lies in the fact that a scoring wheel or diamond is substituted for thepresser wheel 31. In the operation of both arms, the operator moves thearms by the knobs 40 and 4| and the spring 60 applies such downwardpressure as may be necessary to give proper scoring and cracking on. Inoperating the presser arm to run the cut, the glass cracks opposite thepresser roll and extends progressively around the glass sheet as theoperator swings the arm through its circuit. It will be understood withrespect to clients may be employed for mounting the cutting and pressingelements flexibly and for guiding them on the templets other than thechain arrangement, as above described. The only requirement is that thecutter head he made to follow the templet by means of yielding devicesnormally pressing such head toward the axis of rotation with the cutteror presser element so mounted that it can follow curves without binding.

What I claim is:

1. Means for cracking of! a glass plate which has been scored to apredetermined contour comprising a table having a yielding surfaceforsupporting the plate, a templet fixed above the table and having acontour corresponding to the contour of the scoring on the plate, stopmeans on the table for positioning the glass plate with relation to thetemplet, and presser means mounted for movement above the. table,including a roller for contacting with the glass plate opposite the lineof scoring and engaging and guided by the templet, so that in followingsuch templet, pressure is progressively applied along a line parallel toand lying plane as the line of score.

2. Means for cracking off a glass plate which has been scored to apredetermined contour comprising a table having a yielding surface forsupporting the plate, a vertically movable head in opposition to thetable, a templet carried by the head having on its lower side a layer ofyielding material, means for and holding it in lower position clampinga-glass plate to be scored between the table and the yielding layer onthe templet, stop means on the table for positioning the glass platewith relation to the templet and presser means mounted for movement onthe head including a roller for contacting with the glass plate oppositethe line of scoring and engaging and guided by the templet, so that infollowing such templet pressure is progressively applied along a lineparallel to and lying in the same vertical plane as the line of score.

3. Apparatus for breaking glass plates to conform to a line of scorelaid in a definite pattern, comprising a support for the plates, atemplet corresponding in contour to the line of score, said templetbeing mounted for vertical reciprocation, a breaking roller movable overthe surface of the. support, and guide means secured to the roller andengaging the edge of the templet to direct the path of the rolleralongthe line of score of the glass.

4. A method of severing a glass plate which comprises scoring it alongthe desired line of separation on one face, inverting the plate andsupporting it upon a fiat yielding surface with the scored face indirect contact therewith, and then progressively applying downwardpressure to the uppermost surface of the glass along a line parallel toand lying in the same vertical plane as the line of score.

moving the head up and down 5. A method of severing a glass plate whichcomprises scoring it along the desired line of separation on one face,inverting the plate and supporting it upon a flat yielding surface withthe scored line and the portions of glass immediately adjacent the lineof score in direct contact with such surface, and then progressivelyapplying downward pressure to the uppermost surface of the glass along aline parallel to and lying in the 10 same vertical plane as the line ofscore.

6. A'method of severing a glass plate as defined in claim 4-1:! whichthe line of separation scored on one race of the glass plate is endless.

7; A method of severing a glass plate as defined in claim 5, in which adownward rolling pressure is progressively applied to the uppermost ofthe surface glass along a line parallel to and lying in the samevertical plane as the line of score. v

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